Senate nearing infrastructure bill, U.S.-China meeting ends in a stalemate, Lucid Motors stock debuts

Julie Hyman breaks down Monday’s business headlines, including: A bipartisan group in the senate hoping to finalize and advance an infrastructure bill in the Senate by this week, the U.S. and China ending their meeting in a stalemate as both sides deliver criticism, Lucid Motors making its trading debut on the NASDAQ, and NYC requiring city workers to get COVID vaccine.

Video transcript

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JULIE HYMAN: A new vaccine policy is coming for employees of New York City, which wants those workers to be vaccinated. City employees need to be either vaccinated or wear a mask while working and being tested, also weekly, for coronavirus. This is according to the "New York Times," which says that Bill de Blasio is expected to announce this. It'll start for some workers right away and be phased in full by mid-September. The mayor wants the private sector to require similar standards, saying limits of a purely voluntary system have been reached.

China was critical of the US in the latest round of high-level talks between the two countries. In an official summary of remarks by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, Xie Feng-- excuse me-- he said that the two countries' relationship is, quote, "now in a stalemate and faces serious difficulties," and that some Americans portray China as a, quote, "imagined enemy." Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, representing the US in the talks, did not put out an official statement, but officials characterized discussions as constructive and candid.

US lawmakers are aiming to advance an infrastructure bill this week, but conflicts over public transit funding may delay that goal. Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, told ABC that negotiators were, quote, "about 90% of the way there." 11 Republican senators wrote to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last week, saying they would vote to start debate on the bill given certain conditions.

And Lucid Motors began trading today after its merger with SPAC, Churchill Capital Corporation IV. That merger was approved last week following a delay in the vote to approve the deal. The electric vehicle startup trades under the symbol LCID. It said it has over 11,000 paid reservations for its first car, the Lucid Air. It plans to deliver that in the second half of this year. We are going to hear from CEO Peter Rawlinson later this afternoon-- the 4 o'clock hour, I believe.

And Myles, I'm pretty sure those Lucid shares are trading higher.

MYLES UDLAND: Yeah, and, you know, look-- US-China tensions, very serious thing, high-level talks. There was a great "Onion" story that got circulated today. We need a couple of burnouts to have very low-level talks between the two countries. Then maybe we can find some--